Can I use this to HT blades?

Fletch Helical

Fletch Helical

Joined
Sep 29, 2009
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I may have stumbled onto a good find but I wanted to ask you guys first should anything come of it. My wife and I went looking at some houses today contempating a possible move at some point in the future. So we just went toa couple open houses today for kicks. First place we go to is a house owned by a woman who does some crafts and pottery apparently. While taking a tour of the house we go into the attic while the agent is talking about how she's willing to sell some furniture and whatnot in the house as well. The first thing I spot in the corner as she's saying this is a small front loading kiln!! Naturally I bee-line over to is and ask "will she sell this?". The agent puts in a call to the homeowner who apparently forgot it was even up there but said it did in fact work. She'd have to take another look at it and come up with a price.

So I snapped a few cell phone pics and figured I'd ask you guys if it was worth getting and if so maybe someoen would have an idea on a reasonable price. One of the bricks in it has part of it burnt part way through which I'm assuming can easily be replaced if it is a major problem. My only other concern is getting accurate temp readings. The dial has off, low, medium and high settings. Is there a way to easily rig up something to it to monitor and control the heat?
 

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You can put a PID and Thermocouple on it with a little work. Wouldn't worry about the hole unless it goes all the way trough. OH you may want to research the high temp rating for this model as well the coils may need to be changed to use as a ht oven.
 
Yes it will work just fine
Get some Pyrometer cones from a Ceramics store or ebay and check the temp with them.
Used the same model as that for years
 
Rusty McDonald said:
You can put a PID and Thermocouple on it with a little work. Wouldn't worry about the hole unless it goes all the way trough. OH you may want to research the high temp rating for this model as well the coils may need to be changed to use as a ht oven.
Click to expand...

Rusty you're well aware of my electrical capabilities. When you say "you" can put a PID and thermocouple on it... Were you thinking ME specifically or someone who actually has a clue :o
 
Fletch, that is an jewelers burnout oven, may be a little slow to come to temps but will easily go to 2000F, though the range it is used is up to 1450F, so, it may be helpful to own it, I would offer 40.00, bet she will take it. Good luck.
 
Cones do not measure temperature. They measure heat work and are useful for ceramics - not for checking heat treat temperatures. Get a digital pyrometer - or better yet, a digital controller. It's a P.I.T.A. standing there and adjusting temps up and down to try and keep it right, even with a thermocouple and pyrometer.

Yes, it can be used for HT with some mods.

Rob!
 
Matt,
That is a small burn out oven from the 1940-1950 area. Look at that cord...they haven't allowed those in many years. If she wants $50, OK, if she wants $51 pass on it. It will work for temperatures up to 1500-1600 but not much more. The coils get brittle with use and age, so it may fail and need the coils replaced. The dial is an analog timer and just controls the on -off cycle time. There is no temperature read out, so you will have to add at least a thermocouple and digital reader.It will require a PID controller to regulate the temperature or you will have to watch it and manually adjust the dial up and down to get a certain temperature. The cost to convert it to a controlled oven will be about $100, but as you say, you and electrical projects are not exactly well matched.
While not totally unusable, this is not a great find.
 
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